Ayubia
National Park is a small national park in the Murree hills. The initial
area of the park was 1684 ha, expanded through a northern extension in
1998 to make a total of 3312 ha. The park supports one of the best
remaining examples of moist Himalayan temperate forest in Pakistan and is
surrounded by seven major villages and three small towns (Nathiagali,
Ayubia and Khanspur). The national park consists entirely of reserve
forests, which spill out of the park area on the west and south sides. The
scenery is superb with huge pine forests covering the hills and providing
shelter to the larger and smaller mammals. Ayubia National Park is a major
recreation area visited by large numbers of local tourists, mostly from
Islamabad and Abottabad. No official figures are available, but local
estimates suggest that there are about 100,000 visitors per year.

Wildlife:

This
park provides refuge to the elusive leopard and the black bear. Bird
watching is excellent here. Some of the bird species pass through the park
on migration. The population of the Koklass Pheasant and the rare Kalij
Pheasant are the highest known for Pakistan. Only 30 individuals of the
Kalij Pheasant are known to exist in the park.